Falklands War

The Falklands War was a 10-week undeclared war fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina for control of the Falkland Islannds in the south Atlantic Ocean. The war began with an Argentine invasion of the Falklands, which the British had claimed as a crown territory since 1841; the islands were declared a war zone, and the war ended with the British reoccupation of the Falklands following an amphibious offensive. The war led to the downfall of the military junta in Argentina and the rise in popularity of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party, which won the next elections in a landslide. The brief war left 649 Argentines (including 143 conscripted privates) dead and 1,188 wounded, while Britain lost 255 (88 Royal Navy, 27 Royal Marines, 16 Royal Fleet Auxiliary, 123 British Army, and 1 Royal Air Force) dead.

Background
The ownership of the Falkland Islands (also known as the Malvinas) in the South Atlantic Ocean has long been contested between Argentina and Britain. The two countries' claims date back to the late 17th and early 18th centuries; Argentina sent a ship to the islands to proclaim its sovereignty in 1820 and established a settlement in 1828. The British objected to this and expelled the Argentinians in 1831-32, establishing their own sovereignty in 1833.

In 1976, the Argentine army overthrew the elected government of Isabel Peron and established a three-man military junta. It brutally suppressed human rights, but inflation soon crippled the economy. In 1981, General Leopoldo Galtieri became president, but his economic policies met little success. He turned to war to divert the attention of his people. British proposals for a negotiated settlement on the future of the islands were scrapped after parliamentary criticism in 1980, but Britain then announced the withdrawal of its only naval presence in the South Atlantic and refused the islanders full British citizenship. Argentina saw these moves as signaling a lack of British interest in the Falklands.

War
On 19 March 1982, an Argentine Navy transport landed a group of scrap-metal merchants on the remote island of South Georgia, a British dependency 800 miles to the southeast of the Falkland Islands. These included a group of marines, who raised the Argentine ﬂag. On April 2, forces from Argentina landed on the Falkland Islands themselves - the ﬁrst invasion of British territory since World War II. The two sides in this War were badly matched, for the Argentinians were within 300 miles (480 km) range of the islands. Britain, though, was 7,440 miles (12,000 km) away to the north and had only a detachment of 68 marines on the islands - which was prompt to surrender - and an ice patrol ship armed with two 20mm guns to protect its territories. The US gave its support to Britain, but the US Navy considered a successful British invasion to be "a military impossibility.” In Britain, the foray created a political crisis, as the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher was accused of having neglected the islands and of sending out the wrong signals to Argentina about their future.

The Task Force
The British government responded by organizing a task force of 30 warships plus auxiliary and transport vessels, including the converted cruise liner SS Canberra, and 6,000 troops to recover the islands. An air base was set up on the mid-Atlantic island of Ascension, while a 200-nautical mile exclusion zone was set up around the Falklands, in which all Argentinian ships and planes would be attacked. As the task force headed south across the Atlantic, marines and special forces troops from the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) recaptured South Georgia on April 25. British Westland Wasp helicopters attacked and hit an Argentinian submarine, ARA Santa Fe, with AS-12 anti-ship missiles, forcing it ashore.

RAF Avro Vulcan bombers began to attack Stanley airport on May 1. The 16-hour round trip from Ascension Island required the bombers to be refueled mid-ﬂight by RAF tanker planes. Although a remarkable achievement, the attacks proved to be of limited effectiveness. Closer-range sorties by Sea Harrier jets launched from HMS Hermes dropped cluster bombs on Stanley and the airstrip at Goose Green. None of the Falkland airports could support jets, so the Argentinian ﬁghters and attack aircraft had to operate from the mainland, targeting the incoming task force with bombs and missiles. The task force defended itself with anti-missile weapons, anti-aircraft guns, and Sea Harrier ﬁghters. Meanwhile, at sea, the British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror torpedoed and sank the Argentinian light cruiser ARA Belgrano on May 2 with the loss of 323 men: another 700 were rescued, the losses accounting for just under half of all Argentinian deaths in the conflict. The attack was later much criticized, as the ship was outside the exclusion zone and sailing away from the Falklands at the time. An Argentinian patrol boat was also hit and damaged. The losses convinced the Argentinian naval commanders to return their remaining vessels to port for the rest of the conﬂict. Two days later an Argentinian Dassault Super Etendard aircraft sank HMS Shefﬁeld with an Exocet missile.

Landings
The ﬁrst British landings on the islands took place on May 14, when the SAS raided Pebble Island, and destroyed Argentinian ground-attack aircraft at the airstrip. A week later, 4,000 men of 3 Commando Brigade landed around San Carlos Water on the opposite side of East Falkland island from the main Argentinian base at Stanley. British troops were now vulnerable to nightly bombing raids, while air raids sank four British ships in the area.

British troops ﬁrst headed south to attack the Argentinian TWelfth Infantry Regiment holding Goose Green. The two-day struggle ended in a British success on May 28, enabling troops to march on Stanley. A battle at the end of May gave British troops control of Mount Kent overlooking the town. To the south, British forces moving toward Stanley came under Argentinian air assaults, incurring casualties from hits on two landing ships, RFA Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, on June 8.

Despite this setback, British forces were in a position on the night of June 11 to launch an attack against the defended ring of high ground around Stanley. TWo days later they captured Mount Tumbledown, the last defense line around the town. The following morning, 14 June, the Argentinian garrison surrendered, their poorly motivated conscripts no match for the highly trained British troops.

Aftermath
After the conflict, Argentina saw an end to military rule, while Britain's international reputation grew. The islands remain British, despite continuing claims from Argentina. Failure in the Falklands caused Galtieri to resign in June 1982. Democratic elections ended eight years of military rule in 1983, and Argentina has been a democracy ever since. Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives had first been elected in 1979, but had lost popularity over economic issues. Victory in the Falklands War helped her easily win re-election in 1983 and again in 1987. The prestige of Britain rose around the world as a result of its recapture of the Falkland Islands. Since the war, Britain has maintained a sizable military garrison on the islands and has invested in their economy. Revenue from fishing licenses and tourism, as well as military expenditure, has boosted local income. Britain and Argentina restored diplomatic relations in 1992 but continue to disagree about the islands' future - Britain supporting the islanders' wish to remain British while Argentina continues to claim the islands.